Castrol 0-40, 2007 BMW 335i, 10,500 miles

[antonmnster]

Did an analysis after replacing the pan gasket - a horrible project I wouldn't wish on anyone. (Last owner tightened the Al bolts and 8 of the 30 bolts were broken and needed to be extracted.) But the new gasket started leaking right away and thus the 2 makeup quarts in the nearly 11,000 mile run. I bought the car unsure of the prior history. I was interested to ensure the turbo bearings weren't getting filed away and washed into the pan. I was also concerned about the effects of my 1.5 mile commute Monday through Friday balanced with my bi-weekly 78 mph runs to Chicago.

Car is up to 148,800 miles


"Thanks for the note - your BMW looks good. It's handling the mixed use well. As you know, freeway driving is pretty much the best kind of driving, and the amount that you're doing far outweighs the slower in-town driving you do in between your 800-mile trips. As a result, you're able to run your oil far longer (10,500 miles on this fill) than average (6,000 miles) yet still get average metals. Impressive! The trace of fuel is probably from the city driving, and it's not hurting anything at all. Silicon/insolubles show excellent air and oil filtration. Nice engine!"

ALUMINUM 4
CHROMIUM 0
IRON 23
COPPER 4
LEAD 1
TIN 2
MOLYBDENUM 3
NICKEL 1
MANGANESE 1
SILVER 0
TITANIUM 43
POTASSIUM 0
BORON 5
SILICON 4
SODIUM 4
CALCIUM 1944
MAGNESIUM 584
PHOSPHORUS 903
ZINC 1142
BARIUM 0
SUS Viscosity @ 210°F 68.8

cSt Viscosity @ 100°C 12.64

Flashpoint in °F 385

Fuel % 0

Antifreeze % 0

Water % 0

Insolubles % 0.2

 

[Gasbuggy]

Very nice! sometimes I think about buying one of these.

 

[ryanm8]

Looks good. Does your car have an oil cooler?

 

[antonmnster]

It's running better than ever with every pair of 7 hour freeway runs. This engine is known for having a tendency to plug up the intake since it's an early DI design, but I'm not too worried about it. It had a noticeable miss on startup, but it's cleared itself up.

I replaced one injector right when I bought it. I thought others might be fouled, but since there isn't much fuel in the oil, they seem to be spraying fine.

It DOES have the air/oil cooler, in addition to the oil/water exchanger. Maybe on the track it would be necessary, but I don't think daily drivers need one. The oil temp sits right around 225F most of the time, and up to 240F in the summer. There have been maybe 3 times when it's gone to 245F. I'm guessing that's when the cooler thermostat opens, as I've felt the pipes right after... very hot.

Based on how black and gooey the oil came out I expected much worse that these results suggest. I'm running my deeply discounted AZ Castrol 0-30 now. I feel pretty good about leaving it in there until for a few months until I work up the courage to replace the oil pan gasket... again.